Owner: Sports Are 80 Percent Mental URL:http://blog.80percentmental.com Join Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 21:57:01 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: We have all heard that sports are "80 percent mental and 20% everything else". So, what can current cognitive science research teach us about how we learn, execute and improve the skills we need to perform in different sports? Join us to learn! Site statistics:Click here
Baseball and the Brain - Hitting 2008-05-24 22:42:13 Ted Williams, arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all-time, once said, "I think without question the hardest single thing to do in sport is to hit a baseball". Certainly, at the major league level, where pitches can reach 100 miles per hour, this is believable, but even at Little League, High School and College/Minor leagues, the odds are against the hitter. Looking at batting averages, 3 h Read more:Brain
, Hitting
What Was He Thinking? Decision Theory in Sports 2008-05-24 22:40:15 Previously, I outlined the core framework of sports skills. Over time, my intention is to dive deep into each of those areas and present research that will be useful to you in understanding the brain-body connection. Again, the goal of my ramblings here is to examine the foundation of skills necessary to perform well across the continuum of most sports. Ongoing posts will use this framework to org Read more:Theory
, Sports
The Map of Sport Skills 2008-05-24 22:37:35 One of the most common sense categorizations of sport skills that I have run across is from Successful Coaching, 3rd Edition by Rainer Martens. By the way, I highly recommend this book as a complete reference to the basics of coaching. On page 182-3, The "Celestial Map of Sport Skill" shows six areas that an athlete has to develop to be a complete player. I'll paraphrase them here:Technical S Read more:Skills
Baseball and the Brain 2008-05-21 15:57:32 Its April, so that means baseball diamonds all over the country are filling up with teams getting ready for another season. Pitching, fielding and batting skills are being tested, evaluated and trained. So, this is a logical place to start to dig into the theory, teachings and tips of three of the technical skills area I mentioned in the Sports Cognition Framework. As I've mentioned before, I'm le Read more:Brain
Baseball and the Brain - Pitching 2008-05-21 15:56:59 As promised, we begin our look at the three most important technical skills of baseball: Pitching, Hitting and Catching. Each of these skills apply to other sports as well, but I thought we'd stick with the current season of baseball as the sport du jour. Again, my focus for "80 Percent Mental" is to look at sports cognition in a generic sense across all sports, occasionally digging deeper into Read more:Brain
Baseball and the Brain - Fielding 2008-05-21 15:54:32 With the crack of the bat, the ball sails deep into the outfield. The left-fielder starts his run back and to the right, keeping his eyes on the ball through its flight path. His pace quickens initially, then slows down as the ball approaches. He arrives just in time to make the catch. What just happened? How did this fielder know where to run and at what speed so that he and the ball interse Read more:Brain
What is the Toughest Sport to Play? 2008-05-18 00:39:09 Ask any athlete, weekender or pro, which sport requires the most overall skill and talent to play and you would get many different answers. It depends on the mix of "skills" used in the comparison. Are we talking raw physical skills like speed and power, technical skills like throwing and catching or mental skills like determination and nerve? The debate could be endless, as there would be apples
Sorting the Skill Sets 2008-04-30 00:22:12 OK, so before I take on the whole world of cognitive psychology, kinesiology, neuromuscular patterns and the motor skill development (yikes!), I want to try to categorize the different distinct set of skills that seem obvious to my untrained eye. While each sport is different in its rules, objectives and layout, the underlying skills required of the athletes seem to overlap. My early theory is tha Read more:Sorting
Where Does Sport Psychology Fit? 2008-04-30 00:16:38 As I outline my framework for researching the neuro-motor skills necessary for sports, I have debated where the discipline of "sport psychology" fits. Obviously, the topics of motivation, fear, anxiety, concentration, imagery and leadership are critical to the success of any athlete, and are often included under the heading of sport psychology. I can see more application of these ideas in the real
The Sports Cognition Framework 2008-04-30 00:14:45 So, why should athletes and coaches be interested in all of this cognitive science stuff? They have been playing and coaching these sports for years, practicing with the same drills and routines and having success. Some may say, "if it ain't broke..." At the same time, all players and coaches are looking for the "the Edge"; the practice technique, game strategy, player development skill that will Read more:Sports
The Beginning... 2008-03-23 23:36:01 So, this is where it starts. For many years, I have had an interest in cognitive science and sports. More specifically, how do we learn to perform all of the individual motor skills necessary to compete in any type of sports? Why do some athletes outperform others? Why can't all basketball players make 95% of their free throws? Why do baseball players strike out at all? Why do athletes make
A Keeper's Nightmare - Beckham, Ronaldo or Juninho 2008-05-26 18:50:11 Whether you bend it like Beckham
or Ronaldo
or Juninho or even Nakamura; the curving free kick is one of the most exciting plays in soccer/football. Starting with Rivelino in the 1970 World Cup and on to the specialists of today, more players know how to do it and understand the basic physics behind it, but very few can perfect it. But, when it does happen, by chance or skill, it is the highlig Read more:Keeper
, Nightmare
Cristiano Roboto - The Soccer Playing Robot 2008-05-29 11:27:54 Back in April, 80 teams of researchers from 15 countries got together to compete in the 2008 RoboCup German Open, a soccer tournament where the "athletes" are all totally autonomous robots like the one pictured above. Four players and a goalkeeper per team play on a 20x14 meter field and are independent of any human remote control. They need to have sub-systems that "see" the field, opponents an Read more:Soccer
, Robot
Baseball on the Science Channel(!) 2008-06-01 00:59:17 Just a quick follow-up for those that read the Baseball and the Brain series from a week ago. I found a great companion series from the ScienceChannel
/Discovery Channel that goes into alot of the same detail about the physics and skills of Pitching, Hitting and Fielding.Here's the Science Channel series: Baseball's Secret FormulaInside that series is a great video sequence on the Physics of Bas
So Why Can't Shaq Make Free Throws? 2008-06-01 00:58:42 The NBA league average for free throw shooting is about 75%. Shaquille O'Neal's career average is 52.4%. Even worse, Ben Wallace's career average is 41.9%. The average for the NCAA Division 1 teams is 69%. The obvious question is why can't Shaq or Ben or Memphis do any better, but the bigger question is why do most of the best basketball players in the world miss 2 or 3 free throws out of 10?
See The Ball, Be The Ball - Vision and Sports 2008-06-03 15:38:34 The whistle blows and Shaq goes to the line again after being fouled on purpose for the fourth time. And, again, we watch as he takes that awkward stance, looks at the basket and then clanks one of the back of the rim. We wonder how hard this can be... just aim and shoot! Isn't it that simple? Well, not exactly. In our introduction to this series I mentioned the research of Dr. Joan Vickers a Read more:Sports
Take A Nap - Wake Up a Champion! 2008-06-09 12:48:02 Hopefully, you have found this blog to be a nice source of information regarding the link between cognitive science/brain research and sports. Well, today, I have uncovered one of the most exciting, breakthrough, radical, theory-busting pieces of research on sports performance..... wait for it...... here it is:"EXTRA SLEEP IMPROVES ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE"I ran across this headline in my usual scan
The Coach's Curse - Mental Mistakes 2008-06-10 18:14:59 "Donadoni rues Italian 'mistakes' against Dutch""Mental errors cost Demons in regional quarterfinal""Mental mistakes doom Rays in loss to Cardinals"If you are a frequent visitor to this site, you may have noticed a customized Google news feed on the right-hand side of the page. At the top are different phrases to select to get relevant news stories (i.e. the "Sports Science" selection will list st Read more:Coach
Federer and Nadal Can See the Difference 2008-06-13 16:26:02 Watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
battle it out in the French Open final last weekend, I started thinking more about the interceptive timing task requirements of each of their visuomotor systems... yeah, right. C'mon, I just needed a good opening line for this post. Actually, I was thinking that I'd never seen Federer get so destroyed by anyone.However, (how's that for a transition), other
Why The Offsides Flag Has Been "Ruud" to Italy 2008-06-14 23:38:29 Two Euro 2008 games and two questionable offsides calls against Italy
, one on defense, the other on offense, are still being talked about this weekend. First, in the Netherlands opener, van Nistelrooy scores from an obvious offsides position... except for Panucci, who is lying on the ground next to the goal. In fact, UEFA had to defend their referee for a correct interpretation. The call that d
Single Sport Kids - When To Specialize 2008-06-21 15:21:27 So, your grade school son or daughter is a good athlete, playing multiple sports and having fun at all of them. Then, you hear the usual warning, either from coaches or other parents; "If you want your daughter to go anywhere in this sport, then its time to let the other sports go and commit her full-time to this one." The logic sounds reasonable. The more time spent on one sport, the better sh
Getting Sport Science Out Of The Lab And Onto The Field 2008-07-03 12:32:28
You are a coach, trying to juggle practice plans, meetings, game prep and player issues while trying to stay focused on the season's goals. At the end of another long day, you see this in your inbox:
MEMOTo: All Head Coaches From: Athletic Director Subject: Monthly Reading List to Keep Up with Curr Read more:Science
, Field
Teaching Tactics and Techniques In Sports 2008-07-03 12:32:28 You have probably seen both types of teams. Team A: players who are evenly spaced, calling out plays, staying in their positions only to watch them dribble the ball out of bounds, lose the pass, or shoot wildly at the goal. Team B: amazing ball control, skillful shooting and superior quickness, speed and agility but each player is a "do-it-yourselfer" since no one can remember a formation, strat Read more:Sports
Winning Olympic Gold With Sport Science 2008-07-03 12:32:28 Its something that every coach and every athlete of every sport is searching for... the EDGE. That one training tip, equipment improvement, mental preparation or tactical insight that will tip the game towards them. The body of knowledge that exists today in each sport is assumed, with each competitor expected to at least be aware of the history, beliefs and traditions of their individual sport. B Read more:Science
, Winning
, Olympic
Does Practice Make Perfect? 2008-07-20 00:44:34 For years, sport science and motor control research has added support to the fundamental assertions that "practice makes perfect" and "repetition is the mother of habit". Shooting 100 free throws, kicking 100 balls on goal or fielding 100 ground balls must certainly build the type of motor programs in the brain that will only help make the 101st play during the game. K. Anders Ericsson Read more:Practice
, Perfect
Brains Over Brawn In Sports 2008-07-14 10:12:40 Sometimes, during my daily browsing of the Web for news and interesting angles on the sport science world, I get lucky and hit a home run. I stumbled on this great May 2007 Wired article by Jennifer Kahn, Wayne Gretzky-Style 'Field Sense' May Be Teachable. It ties together the people and themes of my last three posts, focusing on the concept of perception in sports.
Wayne Gretzky is o Read more:Brains
, Sports
Stats Vs. Hunches - The Moneyball Era In Sports 2008-07-13 15:33:28 Most baseball general managers live in obscurity most of their careers. Its their first hire, the manager, that usually gets the red hot spotlight, after every win and loss, second-guessed by reporters with recorders and then later by fans. The GM puts the players on the field and lets the manager and his coaches take it from there. Billy Beane , Oakland A's general manager, coul Read more:Sports
, Stats
Play Better Golf By Playing Bigger Holes 2008-07-08 16:37:25 Here are some quotes we have all heard (or said ourselves) on the golf course or at the ball diamond.
On a good day:
"It was like putting into the Grand Canyon"
"The baseball looked like a beach ball up there today"
On a bad day:
"The hole was as small as a thimble"
"I don't know, it looked like he was throwing marbles"
The baseball and the golf hole are the same size every day, so are these c Read more:Holes
Lifting The Fog Of Sports Concussions 2008-08-02 01:26:25 As the puck was cleared to the other end of the ice, my 9-year old son's hockey teammates raced after it. Then, I saw him. He was lying motionless and face down at the blue line. He had slid headfirst into the boards to make a play. By the time our coach made it over to him, he had started to move. After a few minutes, they both skated to the bench where I saw the two talki Read more:Lifting
, Sports
HGH - Human Growth Hoax? 2008-07-26 00:53:08 Athletes, both professional and amateur, as well as the general public are convinced that human growth hormone (HGH), Erythropoietin (EPO) and anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are all artificial and controversial paths to improved performance in sports. The recent headlines that have included Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Floyd Landis, Dwayne Chambers, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemen Read more:Growth
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